© Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute/Michael Moore.Deceased female North Atlantic right whale.
NOAA said its fisheries division was notified Sunday that a dead female right whale was located near Joseph Sylvia State Beach in Edgartown.
The International Fund for Animal Welfare, an organization that responds to stranded marine mammals on Cape Cod and the south coast of Massachusetts, as well as the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) were able to secure the whale, NOAA Fisheries said. And preliminary observations showed the presence of rope around and embedded in the whale's tail.
NOAA said the whale was female, but because of the animal's position, it couldn't be identified. However, it was estimated that the dead right whale was a juvenile due to its size.
